Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 14:23

"For they also built them high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree;" — 1 Kings 14:23 (ASV)

High places, and images, and groves. —Regarding the “high places,” see 1 Kings 3:2 and the Note there. The “images” in this passage undoubtedly seem to have been stone pillars, just as the “groves” (that is, the asherahs) were wooden stumps of trees, possibly surmounted in both cases by some crude representation of the deity worshipped.

The first mention of such a pillar is in Genesis 28:18, Genesis 31:13, and Genesis 35:14; there, it is applied to the stone that Jacob raised and anointed to mark the scene of the vision at Bethel. Next, we find repeated commands to destroy them (along with the asherahs), which were erected by the Canaanites (Exodus 23:24; Exodus 34:13; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3), and not to allow either near the altar of the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:21).

Like the high places, it seems clear that both might be either unauthorized emblems of God’s presence or images of false gods. Indeed, the stone pillar appears in some cases to be associated with the worship of Baal, as the Asherah is with that of Ashtoreth. In this passage, judging from the strength of the language used and from the mention in 1 Kings 14:24, it seems that the more blatant idolatry is referred to. It was practiced on every high hill, and every shady tree—such trees as were notable for their size and shade in the barrenness of the hills of Palestine.